{ Sunday, February 28, 2010 }
As with many people, I first encountered Que reste-t-il de nos amours by Charles Trenet in the beginning of Baisers volés, by François Truffaut, aka Stolen Kisses. Since the lyrics online are either wrong or incomplete, I'm posting them here, because I love this song. I translated it, below.
....................
Ce soir le vent qui frappe à ma porte,
Me parle des amours mortes
Devant le feu qui s'éteint
Ce soir c'est une chanson d'automne
Dans la maison qui frissonne
Et je pense aux jours lointains.
Que reste-t-il de nos amours?
Que reste-t-il de ces beaux jours?
Une photo, vieille photo
De ma jeunesse.
Que reste-t-il des billets doux?
Des mois d'avril, des rendez-vous?
Un souvenir qui me poursuit
Sans cesse.
Bonheur fané, cheveux au vent,
Baisers volés, rêves mouvants
Que reste-t-il de tout cela
Dites-le-moi
Un petit village, un vieux clocher
Un paysage si bien caché
Et dans un nuage le cher visage
De mon passé.
Les mots, les mots tendres qu'on murmure
Les caresses les plus pures
Les serments au fond des bois
Les fleurs qu'on retrouve dans un livre
Dont le parfum vous enivre,
Se sont envolés pourquoi?
....................
Tonight, the wind that knocks at my door
tells me of love that died
Before the fire which turns to embers.
Tonight, an autumn song
In a shivering house
I think of days long ago.
What remains of our love?
What remains of those beautiful days ?
A photograph, an old photograph
of my youth
What remains of the love letters?
The months of April, the rendezvous?
A memory that haunts me without ceasing.
Faded happiness, wind in our hair
Stolen kisses, a living dream
What remains of all that
Please tell me.
A small village, an old clock tower
A hidden countryside
And in a cloud the beloved face
of my past.
The words, the tender murmured words
The truest caresses
The oaths sworn deep in the woods
The flowers found in a book
whose perfume intoxicates you.
Why did they fly away?
LINK | 11:14 PM | TB
The song was adapted to English by Johnny Mercer as "I wish you love". A very nice song too, but there again, French quiet desperation at the irreversible is replaced by American positive thinking.
PS: you're missing the "e" at the end of "envolées". Ah, French grammar!
{ Post a comment }
Congratulations, I am french and I am very impressed that you did not forget any accent.
Leakim | March 2, 2010 5:58 AMFélicitations pour votre blog, bravo et à bientôt.